Brave Dan (Manga)

Also known as 勇者ダン (Yuusha Dan)

Osamu Tezuka’s tale of an Ainu boy and his tiger, Brave Dan (1962) followed The White Pilot (1961-62) in Weekly Shonen Sunday, and was originally serialized from July to December 1962.

What it’s about

The story opens with Kotan, a young Ainu boy, and his family escaping from a logging camp in northern Hokkaido prefecture after an altercation with a corrupt foreman.  However, when Kotan’s father sets off a forest fire to cover their tracks, it quickly gets out of hand and puts the whole family in danger.  Meanwhile, a train transporting a tiger named Dan bound for the zoo is caught up in the fire and derails, setting Dan free.  Yet his freedom is short-lived as a fire-engulfed tree falls on him pining him.  By chance Kotan and his family happen upon the trapped tiger, and Kotan pleads with his father to free Dan.  Risking their own freedom, Kotan and his father free Dan just as their pursuers catch up to them, and with Dan’s help, they are chased off and the family and tiger make it to safety.

Dan is trapped!

After a short rest the two part company, but when Dan hears gunshots, he rushes back to discover Kotan’s parents have been kidnapped and the boy all alone.  Chasing after them, the boy and the tiger are soon swept up into a mighty river and washed away to the ruins of a hidden underground Ainu temple.  There they meet a mysterious old man named Upopo who takes in the young boy and trains him to be the savior of the Ainu people.  Three years later, after facing their final training challenge, Kotan and Ben return to the temple to find Upopo shot and dying.  With his last breath, Upopo reveals that he has been guarding one of three keys to the Ainu’s lost treasure.  He entrusts the key to Kotan, and makes him promise to find the others and unlock the treasure.

A boy and his tiger

With that, Kotan and Dan find themselves in a race with the evil Sekkoku Kou to track down the keys and claim the treasure.

What you should know

Brave Dan (1962) is, along with the later Shumari (1974-76), one of several of Tezuka’s tales that deals with the indigenous Ainu people who primarily live in northern Hokkaido prefecture.  As Tezuka mentions in the afterword to the Osamu Tezuka Complete Manga Works edition (MT-029), “I admire the Ainu people for their romance and courage, but I am also saddened by their tragic history and current condition.  Still, I love the Ainu’s tales and legends, especially when it relates to the Ainu gods” (1979, p. 252).  Against this backdrop, Tezuka was able to craft an adventure tale that incorporates straight up action with some social commentary regarding the plight of Japan’s indigenous people.  He was also able to squeeze in a little science-fiction into the tale, by tracing a connection between the origins of the Ainu with several “ancient alien” theories – something that was extremely popular in Japan at the time it was serialized.

confronting the evil Sekkoku Kou

It is also interesting to note that although many of Tezuka’s manga have animals cast in the main role, tigers only appear rarely.  In fact only Brave Dan (1962) and Tigerland (1974) have tigers as a protagonist.  According to Tezuka this is because “it is quite difficult to reflect both their motions and emotions in drawings” (p. 252).

In some ways, Brave Dan (1962) can be seen as a reunion (of sorts) of the Lost World (1948) cast – as both Kao Sekken and Gratin make an appearance together as the big baddie, Dr. Zogel’s henchmen. Although it’s a bit of a stretch to say that Zogel is an appearance by the third member of the trio, Afill, he has a certain family resemblance – possibly an attempted character development by Tezuka.

However, despite being a well-crafted and enjoyable story, Brave Dan (1962) was also a difficult series for Tezuka to complete.  Tezuka was always very conscious of fan feedback, so given that the initial fan reception was luke-warm, and coupled with the fact that he was constantly missing deadlines, by the end of its run in Weekly Shonen Sunday Tezuka says he felt “completely depleted” (p. 252).

Where you can get it

In 2014 as part of DMP’s Digital Manga Guild initiative, Brave Dan (1962) was published in English as a digital-only release.  It is available for legal download on the emanga.com website in a variety of popular reading formats (ePub, CBR/CBZ, PDF, etc.).  In 2015 a print edition was successfully funded as part of the Clockwork Apple Kickstarter campaign.  In total, 581 backers pledged $32,749 (of $13,500 goal) and the print edition (to replace the digital-only edition) of Brave Dan was secured as the first stretch goal after the campaign reached the $18,200 mark.